Dawgs move into three-way tie for fourth in the SEC

The fact that Georgia and Texas A&M played 40 minutes of low-scoring basketball should not come as much of a surprise to anyone following either team, considering they boast two of the lower shooting percentages in conference games (both hit less than 40% from the floor, ranking them 12th and 13th in that category).

Saturday’s game in Athens was pretty much true to form with the Dawgs hitting just 41% from the floor and the Aggies making merely 33% of their attempts.

At the half, UGA held a 25-23 advantage even though they had only put up 17 shots from the field!

In a game where it seemed as though nearly everyone on the court was off, Coach Mark Fox got a huge effort from sophomore Kenny Gaines down the final stretch.

Gaines scored 10 of his team-high 14 points during the last 10 minutes, beginning with a three-pointer that helped UGA reclaim the lead 42-40 with 10:03 remaining. He then hit another three and a jumper that pushed the Georgia advantage out to 54-48 with only 3:04 left.

Gaines and fellow sophomore Charles Mann went a combined 6 for 6 on free throws in the final minute, enabling the Dawgs to pull away with the 62-50 victory.

The Aggies entered this contest with the worst offense in the SEC in league games and they lived up to that billing, scoring just 50 points on a night in which they went an atrocious 1 for 19 from beyond the arc.

Coach Mark Fox got a nice performance out of senior Donte Williams, who finished with 9 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks (two of which came within seconds of each other in the second half).

While it was not pretty for much for the night, this game was definitely one that you want to come out on the winning end of and Georgia did just that.

Also, credit the Dawgs for responding to last week’s losses to Vandy and Auburn by sweeping their two home games this week.

Saturday’s win gives UGA a 6-4 conference mark and it sends their overall record to 12-10.

Georgia’s SEC schedule is about to get more difficult as 5 of the remaining 8 games will be played outside the confines of Stegeman Coliseum, starting Wednesday when the Dawgs travel to Starkville to take on Missy State.

If UGA hopes to finish above .500 in the SEC and on the season, they are going to have to find some success on the road.

Very accurate assessment. Not mentioned though was Nemi’s ankle twist. As the trainer worked on him, he showed some real pain. While he was able to hobble gently off after the game, I’d be very surprised if he can go Wednesday, and that’s a blow we don’t need. Anybody else see the hot exchange between Nemi and Tim in the first half? They were both furious for a few minutes after Nemi made a pass to Tim that Tim made almost no move for and it was stolen. Fox subbed them both. Nemi said something to Tim and Tim went off. I thought I could read Nemi’s lips as he hotly explained to Fox, “He doesn’t move!” The fortunate result was that Tim made a much better effort upon his return.